Sheriff reopening investigation of deputy's shooting in desert

by Dennis Wagner - Sept. 27, 2010 04:42 PMThe Arizona Republic

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu announced Monday that he is reopening the investigation into the April shooting of a deputy and asking the state Department of Public Safety to conduct lab tests on the shirt Louie Puroll was wearing when he purportedly was wounded during an exchange of gunfire with drug smugglers.

Puroll told detectives he was ambushed April 30 by marijuana smugglers in the desert southwest of Casa Grande and suffered a flesh wound to his side.

The suspects were never found despite a search by about 200 law officers. That and other aspects of Puroll's account prompted questions into whether the shooting was a hoax.

Puroll has declined public comment but told investigators he was shot by a man with an AK-47 from a distance of 25 yards. Several forensic experts who viewed photographs of the wound said last week that, based on soot and carbon-monoxide evidence, the muzzle of the gun must have been in contact with or very close to Puroll's side.

The experts said lab tests on the shirt could reveal additional information.

Babeu has contended that Puroll's account was corroborated by his office and by a DPS crime-scene analysis, so there was no need to examine the garment for evidence such as powder burns.

In a Monday news release, however, Babeu announced that he has reopened the case in an effort to maintain transparency, and the shirt will be tested at the DPS crime lab.